BATON ROUGE - A 54-year-old man accused of beating his 77-year-old roommate to death with a sledgehammer and burying him in a backyard tomato garden has been indicted on murder charges.

An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury charged Douglas Studeman Wednesday with second-degree murder in the May 18 killing of Chester Oakley.

Studeman faces mandatory life in prison if convicted.

Police say Oakley opened his home to Studeman in late February in exchange for Studeman helping him with work around the house.

The discovery of Oakley's body in the tomato garden came after his grandson called police early May 20 to make a missing persons report when he became worried after not hearing from his grandfather since May 18.